Tiger Wood's PGA Tour 12: The Master's - An EA Tiburon Game

I've always liked the idea of golf, it's one of those sports that I always fancy taking up; at the start of every summer I start to think about maybe buying a set of clubs and booking in for some lessons, maybe head down to the driving range and hit a few balls around, then the idea gets forgotten like many of my other hair brained schemes that never get off the ground.
This short annual period of golf obsession usually comes around the time of the Master's tournament in Augusta Georgia, the only golf event that I actually bother to watch, played at possibly the greatest and definitely the most exclusive golf course in the world. I'm not sure what it is about the Masters that elevates it so far above the other events in the golf calendar in so many peoples eyes but its difficult to argue with the excitement, drama and skill on display at the tournament each year.

So finally EA brings the Master's tournament to the Tiger Wood's series of games at a time in the golfer's career where phrases like 'Stroke Play' are likely to have entirely different connotations. EA insists that this is still very much a Tiger Wood's game but the presentation tells a different story, Tiger's name is demoted to a footnote on the game box and throughout the game he may as well just be another playable character along with all of the others. So the focus this time is on the Master's tournament rather than on Tiger but what does this mean for the experience as a whole?

For those unfamiliar with the Tiger Wood's series of games the gameplay is pretty straightforward, you basically line up your shots, taking into account the various hazards that the course has to offer and other variables such as wind speed and then take the shot using a smooth back and forth motion on the left analog control stick. The gameplay is slick and intuitive and there don't seem to be a great deal of changes from previous incarnations. One exception is the addition of analogue putting which takes a while to get used to but is definitely an improvement on the system used in previous games.
One issue that I did find with the gameplay is that there is a bit of an imbalance in difficulty between the general driving and pitching game and the putting, its pretty easy to get the ball on to the green but once there the putting can be infuriatingly difficult, I ended up pumping all of my earned xp points into improving my golfers putting skills but the disparity in difficulty was still there, its almost like the developers realised how easy the stroke play was and pumped up the difficulty of the putting to compensate.
So with the gameplay largely unchanged EA have introduced improvements in a number of different areas. First up we have the new caddy system. Your caddy will suggest a number of shots for each situation which you can choose to take on or simply ignore him and go for your own option, I can imagine the caddy being pretty useful for newer players but more often than not his suggestions are very basic so more experienced players are unlikely to listen to his advice, its a good new feature though and one worthy of inclusion.

Next up we have the Master's moments mode, this gives you nine of the greatest moments in Masters history and invites you to try and recreate them, there is a good section ranging from an Arnold Palmer shot in 1958 which I am way too young to remember all the way through to Phil Mickleson's awesome chip from the trees onto the the green from last years tournament. This is another nice addition and rewards you with automatic qualification for the master's tournament in your career mode if you manage to pass them all.
The other new additions are mainly superficial the graphics are improved now featuring proper 3D grass and a few other little tweaks, the game has a new commentary team of Jim Nantz and David Feherty which is definitely an improvement on the commentary of the last few years.
The biggest change to this years game is the switch of focus to the Masters tournament. The iconic Augusta National course has been impeccably captured down to the finest detail and it looks superb, to the point that some of the other courses look pretty dull in comparison. It is also extremely difficult and this is where the big improvements come over the previous games. The addition of the Masters tournament to the game gives a new focus to the previously bland career mode. Instead of aimlessly progressing through a series of courses earning XP and new equipment for your golfer with no real purpose, the refocussing of the career mode around the Masters tournament completely changes things. Earning XP and new equipment now has a reason, you want to get better so that you have a chance of qualifying and eventually winning the Master's.

The Tournament becomes a kind of end boss of the career mode and you will be striving to maximise your points on each of the other events in the calendar in the hope of maximising your chances of winning once the Master's comes around.
In summary the game doesn't bring a great deal of new things to the table in terms of the general gameplay, the caddy system will be a useful addition to newer players and the improvements to graphics and commentary are both useful but not essential. The biggest change comes from the change of focus from Tiger Wood's himself to the Master's tournament, if you own a previous Tiger Woods game and are wondering whether it is worth the upgrade then it basically comes down to how much you are interested in the Master's tournament itself. If you have no interest then you are better off giving this one a miss but if you've always enjoyed the tournament or even if you would like to play a round on golf's most exclusive course then Tiger Wood's 12 is for you

Overall
8 / 10

Good work Bertie!

I will have to start this once I finally finish Tiger 11

Thanks Kent, tis a very good golf game and well worth playing

Good review mate. Nicely structured I thought!